The Masks We Wear
by Pimp Daddy Payne
Summary: Bribed with ramen, a young Naruto is tasked with saving the world by three beautiful girls that claim to be Goddesses.
1. And So It Begins

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Legend of Zelda. I own a laptop, though, and that's enough for me!**

* * *

><p>The little boy looked around. The Old Man told him not to wander around the forests because there were usually ninja training in them, and he could get hurt by a stray jutsu. He didn't really pay any attention, though. Naruto loved the forests, feeling at home in them moreso than in the village.<p>

He was Naruto Uzumaki, a very small blonde boy of the age of seven. He'd been in the Ninja academy for a year; most people didn't start until they were 8. The blonde loved the Old Man for letting him go in two years early, even if the Academy was super hard. All of the teachers gave him a lot of homework and the tests that they took were always difficult. The little boy didn't let that stop him, though. He did his best with everything he had, because he was going to become Hokage, the leader of his village, the Hidden Leaf Village. As of right now, he was wearing a white teeshirt with an orange spiral that he saw a lot of ninja wear and a pair of blue denim shorts and he was currently barefoot.

Naruto loved the feel of the cool grass under his feet was he walked in the woods. Yes, with his head held high and his eyes shut, he was happy and relaxed for once. Nothing ever bothered him here.

At least, until him not looking where he was going made him trip on a tree root.

Now, see, most of the time when one trips on a root, one stumbles and maybe falls and hits their face on the ground, but later has a good laugh about it and moves on with their day. Naruto though, wasn't the most graceful soul in the world, and he tripped and rolled, comically tumbling off the trail. He kept rolling until the young boy finally was stopped by a rock. Naruto rubbed himself off, complaining about the pain to no one in particular, cursing the root that made him fall.

He then noticed that he was in an unfamiliar part of the forest. His natural curious nature combined with a child's desire to see something new and the ninja trainee walked in a random direction, guided by nothing but his own heart. He didn't know how long he walked, nor how far. It was only when his stomach rumbled that the boy realized that he was lost. Naruto had enjoyed exploring the forest, yes, but now he had no clue how to get back home, and that meant that he wouldn't get any ramen tonight if he couldn't find a path. Naruto's eyes widened, and he began walking in the opposite direction until a scent caught his attention.

It couldn't be...

Ramen?

In the woods?

The blonde almost laughed in joy as he walked towards the smell. Maybe they'd share with him? Naruto could only hope so. The ninja in the village were occaisionally nicer to him than the villagers were, but not by much. Still, that thought didn't slow him up any. Naruto finally arrived to a clearing where he found three women.

The one on the right had long fiery red hair tied into a high ponytail and red eyes. Her skin was tanned and she sat crosslegged at the fire, poking it. She had a simple red sleeveless coat that was opened to show that she lacked a shirt. Her whole torso was wrapped in bandages. She wore white pants that cut off at the ankles, and flat sandals on her feet. She seemed to exude an aura of confidence that bordered on arrogance that even he could feel.

The girl on the right had short lime green haired hair and was a few shades paler her red haired counterpart. She wore a short and simple sundress that was a darker green than her hair, and a white straw hat on top of her head. She was barefoot like him. The green haired girl seemed confident like the red head, but to him, as he looked on her, he felt happier, almost as if the greenette was pure joy in a human form. She was sitting on a tree stump, kicking her feet as if she was bored.

The third seemed to be the elder, or at least thats how Naruto felt. Where the red and green haired girls seemed anxious, the third seemed calm. An aura of wisdom and maturity seemed to roll off her in waves. The third girl had light blue hair and eyes, and wore a more elegant dress than the green haired girl. As Naruto studied their faces, they seemed to be sisters.

On the fire was a pot of boiling water with noodles in it.

"Well, at least I found the ramen! I wonder if they'll share with me?" Naruto thought.

"What'd I tell ya, sis? I told ya ramen would get this kid runnin' to us," the red head spoke up. Her voice was tough sounding. Naruto couldn't tell her accent very well, either.

"Din, that honestly shouldn't have worked. I mean, seriously, why would a human come to ramen like a cat does to cat nip? It doesn't make sense," the green haired girl replied. Her voice was sweeter. It sounded a lot like Ayame's from the ramen stand!

"Farore, I keep trying to tell you, ramen is the greatest food on earth."

The red head, Din, was now his favorite, hands down.

Farore didn't look like she agreed, and voiced this.

"Pocky is better."

"Ramen is better!"

"Pocky."

"Ramen!"

"Pocky!"

"RAMEN!"

"POCKY!"

"RAMEN!"

"POCK-"

The fight was cut off by a light cough as the arguing girls looked at the third one.

Her voice was quiet and as soft as the finest cotton, and what Naruto had always imagined his own mother's voice would sound like.

"We have a guest, sisters. Behave."

The two stopped arguing and looked sheepish.

"Sorry Nayru!"

"Sorry..."

Naruto blinked in confusion. This whole situation was odd. The three girls were complete strangers to him, but from what the red head, Din, had said, they had expected him to come, even making ramen. The Old Man had warned him about taking food from strangers and trusting them, but he figured that anyone who would make ramen weren't bad people. After all, old man Tuechi and Ayame were really nice people and they made him ramen all the time!

Nayru, the blunette, pulled a bowl out of seemingly nowhere, and stooped down to the pot, pouring the noodles and broth into the bowl and giving it to him. She handed him chopsticks and smiled.

"Eat up little one."

Din and Farore looked at him with interest as he dug in after a quick thank you.

The red head then decided to get to the point.

"Kid, how would you like to be the greatest hero of all time?"

Naruto, who had been busy slurping away happily, did a spit take.

"You mean, like the Hokage?"

"Even better!", Farore said, nodding,"you see, we're goddesses. And we need a kid like you."

The little boy's eyes widened out of his skull but he quickly shook off his surprise. There'd be no way goddesses would be here, feeding him ramen. This had to be a

"It's not a dream, little one," piped Nayru.

Naruto's thoughts were interupted. Could she read his

"Yes, little one, I can read your mind. I am Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom. Pleased to make your aquaintance, Naruto."

The green haired girl raised her hand.

"I'm Farore, Goddess of Courage."

And the third: "And I am Din, Goddess of Power."

"Okay, saying that I believe you, what do you need me for? I'm just a kid!"

Farore shook her head, "You won't always be, Naruto, and by the time we need you, hopefully you'll be more than ready to take on what we need you to."

"And that is?"

"Save the world, of course!" Din replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Uh...huh... okay, I'm dreaming. I'd like to wake up in my bed, please."

Farore grinned.

"Leave it to me!"

The green haired goddess snapped her fingers and a gust of wind blew under Naruto's feet, and he suddenly disappeared.

"I think we should give him the masks, what about you?" Din said, as she picked up the discarded ramen bowl. It disappeared from her hands and she sighed.

"Not the transformation ones, and I imagine that the Keaton mask wouldn't do him much good, nor the Blast Mask. A lot of them would be useless to him, and the few that we've powered up are a little bit much for him. How about we give him the Ocarina or the Wind Waker?" Farore and Din looked to their older sister

Nayru closed her eyes in thought.

"We'll give him the Fairy Ocarina for now. It's not as powerful. I don't want to entrust the power of time to him just yet, and we need to ask the brothers before we give him the Waker. We've still got eight years before it begins."

Nayru looked towards the sky at the setting sun.

"And if he isn't, we're all doomed."

* * *

><p>Naruto found himself in his bedroom, his eyes bugging out. He was most assuredly awake, which means that he HAD met three girls in the forest that could have actually been Goddesses. He couldn't think of any other reason why he had suddenly appeared in his bedroom with a mouthful of ramen, but he had pinched himself hard enough to leave marks seven times. He was awake, and they were real.<p>

"Maybe I can get them to train me!"

In a way, the seven year old thought, they already kind of offered. He sat down on his bed and huffed. He had no idea how to get back to where he had found the sisters, and even if he did, there was no guarentee that they'd be there still. He frowned.

"This sucks! They could have helped me become Hokage!"

Something caught his attention; on his bedside drawer was an item he had never seen before. It looked like a musical instrument or something, like a flute. It was round with seven holes on it, tree bark brown with a leaf green triangle on the mouth piece. Underneath it was a note.

_"Dear Naruto,"_

_"Now that you believe us, we need you to learn how to play this instrument. It might not seem important at the moment, but if you master the ocarina, you'll be one step closer to the Hokage! After all, aren't Hokage people that can do anything? So what's a flute? Get to playing!"_

_"Good Luck,_

_The Sisters!"_

Naruto blinked in confusion. He didn't see how playing a little flute would make him Hokage, but if it got him closer, then he'd do it. After all, they had given him ramen, and there were no bad people amongst ramen.

With a sigh, he brought the wooden instrument to his lips, and blew, letting out a earsplitting shriek.

This was going to take a while.

* * *

><p><strong>That was chapter one, obviously. My other fanfictionactual fiction didn't/isn't doing too hot. Meh. Oh well. Anyways, this is my attempt at Naruto fanfiction. The idea hit me in the shower, and my mind just kinda went and fleshed it out over a few days. Yep. Later.**


	2. The Ninja's New Clothes

**Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine. Zelda, either. Hmm. If I did own Zelda, I think I'd actually put a light dating sim element into the game. Lets face it, Link is a player. **

* * *

><p>Three weeks had passed since Naruto had started learning to play the little green ocarina, practicing during lunch breaks at the Academy and when he got home, in spite of his homework. It was too hard for him to do on his own, anyway. The sisters had chastised him for this, of course. The Goddesses had taken to leaving letters that would magically appear anytime he did something he wasn't supposed to- or didn't do something he WAS supposed to. He was fully convinced that the girls had been Goddesses now because he actually saw a letter appear, and it didn't seem to have any chakra involved.<p>

Of course, he was an untrained seven year old ninja wannabe. So there could be chakra and he just wasn't sensing it right. Even if sensei had taught him how to sense personally, he could never do it right, not like the rest of the class. He had just gotten home from the academy, actually. A frown graced his lips, and Naruto pulled out the ocarina to play. He could play a few quick little tunes now, and it was relaxing to him to piddle around on the flute. He must have played for an hour or so, as Naruto soon felt hungry.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and Naruto smelled ramen. Naturally, the blonde ran to open the door, and to his surprise, Din stepped in with two bowls of covered ramen.

"Hey kid. Heard you were hungry."

She was clad in the same clothes as last time, but this time, she had a sword attached to her back and a second at her hip.

"Eat up!" she said, as she handed on bowl to him. She ignored the mess that was Naruto's home, blaming it on his lack of proper upbringing. She had spied on Naruto for the last month, even before the boy had seen them. Konoha disgusted her by this point, as it seemed there were maybe seven people in the entire village-which bordered on being a city, honestly- that cared for Naruto, and he only got to see three of them on a regular basis. She had seen the tests and the homework. Din would have had trouble answering half of those questions had she not been a diety.

Oh well. Naruto was about to be too damned tired to be messy anymore. The pair sat down at his little table in the kitchen. Naruto dug in while Din watched him with interest. Her sisters had a great interest in this little boy, and she was the same. The stars had seemed to align accidently when this boy was concieved. His father had been one of the most powerful humans she had ever known of to exist. His mother had been the host of the most powerful spirit since that man had split the Juubi, and even distantly related to that man. Naruto had even been given that piece of the Juubi. Combined with his already impressive heritage, the little blonde had thrust into greatness.

That sheer power, once tamed, could save them all.

-Line Break Here-

Nayru and Farore were out in the woods.

"Eh, Nayru, don't you think one of us should handle his initial training? Din's... not exactly the most gentle. Remember what she did with that one incarnation of Link?"

Nayru tilted her head in thought.

"Oh yes. I forgot. Oh well... it's out of our hands now. Pass me the doughnuts."

-line break here-

Naruto and Din finished their ramen at the same time, Din having dug in a few seconds after Naruto. The red head and the blonde both let out a contented sigh, and enjoyed that blessed second where the broth and the noodles combined in the stomach once more.

Breaking the silence, Naruto looked to the Goddesses of Power.

"So, what's with the swords?"

Din smiled as if she were a child given the key into their own personal candy store.

-line break-

Nayru munched on a large doughnut powdered with white sugar.

"But, you know, Farore, as far as training goes, there's no one better to teach him how to fight."

Farore frowned. There was one other that could, but there was no way they could risk HIM having any involvment with Naruto.

-line break-

Another month had passed since Naruto had asked that question. The little boy thought back to when he had asked.

_"Well, Naruto, I'm going to train you. A Hokage needs a really cool weapon, right? And there's nothing cooler than a sword!"_

_Naruto couldn't agree more. The swords Din carried were unique to him, though. Most swords he had seen were katanas, or varients of katanas. He remembered a vague reference in one of his textbooks about a select group of shinobi that wielded special swords, but that was about it._

_Expecting her to give him one of the blades she carried, he was surprised-and rather disappointed- when she reached behind her and gave him something that wasn't much longer than a knife._

_"This, Naruto, is going to be your first sword. It's the Kokiri Sword, and it's really old. I made it myself for my sister Farore. It's not the greatest sword ever made, but it's good enough for you to learn from. One of the greatest heroes to ever exist used this sword as a child. It's magic causes it to revert to it's base form when it's wielder dies, though. In a way, this is a sword that grows with you, so long as you put the efforts into making it grow."_

_Naruto's opinon was still not really changed, because even if it could grow into a different sword, it was still puny looking as of now._

_The Goddess of Power snapped her fingers and Naruto suddenly found himself dressed in a really long green teeshirt and white pants. He felt oddly more comfortable in green than the black shirt he had been wearing, and the pants had several pockets and were made of a tough material. He did some stretching and found that his clothes were light and flexible._

_"WOW! These clothes are great Miss Din!"_

_The godddess shrugged smugly, playing it off while trying to look cool to the kid. It worked._

_"Naruto, these clothes are a lot like your new sword. You can get new ones, but these will grow on you. Farore made your clothes, and she and Nayru added in some enchantments that I didn't pay any attention to. So you'll have to find out on your own, okay?"_

_Naruto resisted the urge to slap his forehead at the woman's words. Though, it did show that even deities had their quirks. It made her seem more human to him._

_"Now, Naruto, I find that the best way to learn how to swordfight is with practice, so..."_

_The Goddess took a stance with one of the sword on her back._

_"ON GUARD!"_

_With a quick (to Naruto) movement, she spun around and pulled out her sword from the sheathe. It was a long, silver blade with a golden spine that made three diamond like shapes. It's crossguard was black with what looked to be red jewels encrusted into it. The hilt was black with more golden diamond shapes running down it, but Naruto couldn't see the hilt._

_Naruto froze in shock as the tip of the blade stopped at his throat._

_"You'd have just died instantly, little hero. Next time, draw your blade."_

_Naruto gulped as the fiery haired goddess retracted her blade, and then drew his sword._

Naruto cursed his luck. Yes, it was great that he was recieving training for once, but Din was a merciless slave driver. She didn't have him do obscene amounts pushups or run over nine thousand laps, of course, as he was only a child and even adult ninja would struggle doing such workouts.

Instead, Din had him fighting with the sword from pretty much the minute he got home from the Academy until he eventually just couldn't move anymore. The lack of sleep didn't bother him too much, and Din explained that his clothes did have some part in that. He had taken to wearing the clothes everyday, as they seemed to never stay dirty and always seemed as fresh and new as when he first recieved them, no matter the damage he recieved.

So far, he had figured that the clothes helped keep him awake and alert, and also repaired themselves. This was a rather cool feature, but from what Din implied, they could do more. The boy loved the sound of that, honestly, and looked forward for his lessons with Farore and Nayru, who would teach him more about magic and his clothes.

Din didn't teach him anything about ninjutsu, though. Ninjutsu, she said, was about tricks and special attacks. She taught him how to fight. Naruto had never had one on one training with anyone before, but he liked it a lot more than sitting in the classroom. Din said that he was quite similar to him in the fact that he liked to learn by doing things rather than by hearing or seeing them done.

And he was a natural, if he could say so himself. Granted, he was still far away from winning a fight with anyone trained in the ways of the sword, but he could hold his own against an animal like a wolf or a giant spider.

Din had took him in to a massive forest where it seemed that everything decided one day to be bigger than possible. She said it was an actual training ground that belonged to Konoha, and it was called the Forest of Death or something, and for the last few weeks, that would be where he spent his weekends. She watched over him, fed him, and kept him safe when he couldn't stay awake anymore, but she left him to his own devices in the daytime. In Naruto's opinion, Din was a harsh sensei, but she was one of the nicest people he'd ever met.

Currently, the little greenclad boy walked through a trail in the forest, hand on the sword sheathed on his back. The tiny blade hadn't changed shape yet, but he figured it was too soon for it. Din told him that Nayru had made it to where it, like his clothes, would grow along side him naturally, mentioning that the last wielder of the Kokiri blade didn't have that luxary and that it originally had to be reforged with precious metals to gain any power but she fixed that problem a thousand or so years ago.

A twig snapped, and Naruto pulled out his sword and spun, swinging it down and stopping it mid swing.

A teenaged girl stood before him, glaring at him with light brown eyes that seemed pupil-less. Her violet hair was done up in a short, and kind of spiky ponytail. She was wearing a tan overcoat over a black teeshirt and dark blue pants, and a forehead protecter on her head. A small pendant that looked a lot like a snake's fang hung off her neck and onto her very ample chest, made all the more apparent by her puffing her chest out and her hands on her hips.

"And what do YOU think that you're doing here, little boy?"

Naruto laughed nervously and sheathed his sword, with no idea how to get out of this one.

-line break-

**And there you have it folks. It's really late considering how short it is. If I had had the time, I'd have written a lot more, but a lot has gone on this week and I wanted to get this out before the 4****th****of July. Glad to know I'm about 10 minutes ahead of schedule.**

Anyways, like I said, I'd have done more and sooner, but I got lucky and had a small home remodel job come up where I tore out two bathrooms, combined them into one, put in new lights and both a shower and a bath, and then extended the porch. Fun stuff. I'm sore as hell though because my taekwando teacher nearly dislocated my shoulder when we were horsing around in a spar.

**See, I'm in pain and I love you guys enough to write. That's about all, though.**

**One question though: What items throughout all of the games would you like to see here and what use would they be to Naruto or any ninja for that matter? I have a few in mind, but I'd like some reader input because two heads are better than one. **

**That's all. Good night, folks! **


	3. Anko Mitarashi

**Oh my God, guys, I'm so sorry this is late. I fell off of a roof doing some work for the old neighbor lady and broke my arms. Thankfully, I heal fast so I'm not doing the cross arm dead guy pose in a cast. On the bright side of things, I had time to start watching a really cool anime called Zero no Tsukaima, and I've already got a few ideas for a crossover with it and Naruto.**

**Disclaimer: I'm now holding myself hostage, and will not let myself go until Naruto or Legend of Zelda belong to me. I better get rights to one or both in the next hour, or else I get it. Kapishe?**

* * *

><p>The blonde ninja student frowned.<p>

Most people would, given his situation. After all, most people never had to be tied to a tree by snakes.

"You're the Uzumaki brat, aren't you? Why are you out here?"

Said brat glared at the rather pretty girl who had captured him.

"'Ruka-sensei always said it was more polite to introduce yourself before askin' any questions," was the blonde's irritated reply.

You could see a twitch in the girl's forehead vein as she struggled to not bash the little boy's brains out.

"I'm Anko Mitarashi, brat. Now what the hell are you doing out here? This is a restricted area, even for a lot of ninja."

Naruto shrugged, a considerable feat due to his present situation (being wrapped to a tree by two boa constricters, to be precise), and then sighed.

"I'm trainin'. This place looked scary, so I figured it'd be a good place to train. Can't be Hokage if Imma scared of the woods, ya know?" It wasn't a lie; the forest Din had dumped him in was quite scary, and he was more than positive that the Old Man wasn't afraid of the Forest of Death. The girl accepted the answer, and her eyes moved to the sword that was sheathed on Naruto's back.

"And where'd you find a sword? I doubt dolphin boy is teaching swordplay in his academy."

Naruto had been hoping with all of his little heart that she wouldn't ask about it.

"You didn't steal it did you, brat?"

The blonde sighed, and figured that he had no way out other than to tell the truth.

"Three Goddesses gave it to me because they said I have to save the world or somethin'. One of them is sorta trainin' me ta use it, but she says that "the best way to learn the sword is to use it orin something like that and she likes to put me in life threatenin' situations to test my medal," and they're also teaching me how to play this flute thingy that Din said was called an ock-ah-reena or somethin,"

Anko stared at the jinchuriki for a good thirty seconds in silence, before busting out laughing, holding her gut while doing so.

"Kid, that was the best lie I think I've ever heard come off the top of someone's head. Hahaha, you got guts, lying to someone that well when you're trapped. You'll make a good shinobi one day," the pretty girl said, before she made a one handed seal. The snakes holding Naruto disappeared in a burst of smoke, making the boy break into a coughing fit.

"I'm tellin' the truth!" the young ninja trainee said

"Riiiiiiight. Haha, you got spunk, kid. Tell ya what, I'll find you a different training ground to use to practice swordwork. There's a lot of dangerous things out in this forest. Only ninja of Special Jounin rank and above can use this training ground under most cases. That means there's really power ninja like me running around, shooting off high powered jutsu at the super-sized monster animals that live here. It's too dangerous for a little brat like you to waltz around in here, even if you're armed."

The brat in question stuck his lips out in a pout. It wasn't his fault that Din plopped him here. Naruto nodded, though, understanding.

"Okay..." he said, looking rather dejected. Anko snorted in laughter again, thinking of how the little boy reminded him of herself. The snake summoner "hmm" in thought, and an idea popped in her head. The Special Jounin had never really thought about taking an apprentice, especially after her own ordeal with her teacher. But, really, what could it hurt? She had a lot of Orochimaru's techniques, but none of his evil. And even if the kid wasn't any real talent as a ninja, him being out here with a sword indicated a desire to learn to fight, and Anko was a hell of a fighter. The teen looked at the little kid and smiled.

"You know, I could teach you to be a ninja if you want me to, but you have to be willing to work extra hard,"

Naruto's eyes widened. No one other than the goddess sisters had offered to train him.

"For real?"

Anko nodded, hesitantly. She didn't know why she was overcome with the urge to train the kid, even if he was a lot like her. But it was a nagging feeling that was growing in her brain. The teenager put her hand on Naruto's head.

"From now on, just call me Anko-sensei!"

* * *

><p>Din sighed in relief. Her time in her mortal form was almost up, as was her power to interefere with the human world. There were many other ninja that could have taught Naruto, but Anko was different than most. Like Naruto, she was met with cold stares and dark mutterings, but overcame it. The girl was also highly skilled; after all, one of her greatest champions had taken an interest in her, and trained her.<p>

Orochimaru was much like Ganon, and Din had hoped the pale skinned boy would have turned out better than the Gerudo man, and for a while, Orochimaru had had such promise. The war had been what turned him into a monster, with his inability to save friends from dying. Survivor's guilt at it's worst, a motivation to become strong enough to conquer death in order to live for the fallen. Her champions seemed to have a hard time not letting power corrupt them, but in most cases, their fall was necessary to keep balance in the world. They caused war, which elimnated the weak and gave way to the strong. They made the human race grow, learn, and adapt.

Anko was a result of that, and she was powerful, if still young. Itachi Uchiha was powerful, and her first choice to train Naruto, but unfortunately, he was called away on a long term mission and wouldn't have made it back in time for him to influence him.

Besides, it was good for Naruto to get to know Anko well, considering she was the Sage of Shadows.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter is super short but super important. To clarify, Din influenced Anko with awesome Goddess powers. The Goddesses won't be able to personally guide Naruto through anything, as that's against the rules, which will be explained later in the story. Let's just say that Naruto's up against more than just S Ranked ninja in the far future. <strong>

**I took a bit of artistic liberty with Orochimaru's backstory, as I figure that there had to be some point in which he began to fall. I figure it was likely the wars he had fought in which pushed him down the path he had begun to go down with his parents' deaths. **

**As you might have noticed, I made a big reveal at the end of the chapter. Yes, Anko will be the Shadow Sage but this won't be important for a while. **

**I figure I ought to warn you now, this story is gonna go AU here starting within the next couple of chapters, but I figure you guys are gonna dig it, because I happen to think positive. **

**Anyways, I'm already workin on chapter 4 which will probably be up tonight or tomorrow to make up for both the shortness of this chapter and the long wait you guys had to suffer.**

**Quick question: Would you like me to start using suffixes and such, like -chan and -san- and onee-chan and what not? **

**Later!**


	4. Fox, Snake, Weasel

**Here's chapter 4! Not much to say, only to dedicate this to a friend of mine's new baby sister, Emma. She was just born Friday. Here's to you, young lady, and I hope you grow up to play the bari sax. **

**Disclaimer: I can't afford to take on Nintendo, but Kishimoto, I'm callin you out to a fight. A no holds barred, fist to fist death match, winner gets rights to Naruto, dig? **

* * *

><p>Itachi Uchiha was kneeling on one knee, facing the Third Hokage who's back was turned to him. The old man was looking out at the village with his pipe in his hand. Hiruzen took a long draw from it and sighed, exhaling a plume of smoke.<p>

"Danzo and the Council have ordered you to destroy the Uchiha clan?"

The Uchiha prodigy sighed with an "Affirmative."

The God of Shinobi turned around and look at the poor boy. Itachi's considerable power and impressive mission record made one forget that despite all of his reputation, Itachi wasn't an adult quite yet. His teammates and his old rival were damning this boy to a lifetime of hatred. He didn't much care for the Uchiha clan with their plans of a coup, but he was afraid of what psychological damage this would do to Itachi. He was caught in between a rock and a hard place, and it seemed like there was no way out. Even the man known as The Professor couldn't think of a solution for Itachi's problem.

"So, tonight, eh?"

The prodigy looked at his leader, a cold look in his eyes.

"Yes, my lord. "

"You already killed Uchiha Shisui, correct? Did he have the Mangekyou?"

The Uchiha nodded, and if you weren't as skilled as Hiruzen, you wouldn't have caught the guilty look in his eyes.

"Yes, Lord Hokage. However, I think... I think Shisui was missing his right eye. He entrusted me with the other one. It's sealed into my arm right now, in my ANBU tattoo. He didn't tell me what happened to it. But I'm worried. Shisui's Mangekyou... it's more powerful than I could have ever imagined, my lord... it had the perfect mind control technique. But... I have awakened my own."

The Hokage looked into Itachi's eyes, and felt his heart stop as he saw the three tomoe morph into a new shape.

"Do you know the capabilities of your own Mangekyou?"

The prodigy nodded.

"I have a very powerful genjutsu and two ninjustu, but I have a lot more profiency with my genjutsu and my first ninjutsu. The second one... is still incomplete and it takes too much chakra out of me. I can only hold it for a minute."

The Hokage frowned.

"Itachi..." he placed his hand on both of the boy's shoulders.

"You don't have to do this."

Itachi shook his head, disagreeing.

"If I don't, the clan will bring about the fall of Konoha. That will cost many more innocent lives than the extermination of one clan. Lord Hokage, you are a great negotiator and a skilled leader, but even a shinobi as great as you cannot understand the Uchiha's Hatred, and therefore can do nothing about it. Your peace talks have done nothing but lull my father into a false sense of security; he suspects me of betraying him, but he knows nothing. Tonight is perfect."

"And what of Sasuke?"

Itachi visibly flinched.

"I...cannot kill my own brother. I have a plan...to villainize myself and make him hate me, then he can grow to kill me and be heralded as a hero, the man who avenged the Uchiha clan."

A villain, huh? Itachi wanted to play a villain for Sasuke to hate...

Hiruzen Sarutobi loved his three students, even Orochimaru, to a fault. He couldn't forgive Orochimaru's crimes, but he was a son to him nonetheless. Orochimaru was a fallen prodigy. What Itachi just said proved to the Professor that Itachi cared not for the power he possessed, nor for any more power to be gained. The Flames of Hatred that burned in the Uchiha clan were absent in the young man, but the Will of Fire burned stronger in Uchiha Itachi than almost any other ninja he had seen.

"Itachi... just how great at illusions are you?"

* * *

><p>"HIT THE DIRT, BRAT! PUSHUPS! NOW!"<p>

Said brat groaned, and got down into the pushup position. Anko had been working on his taijutsu. Her teaching method was similar to Din's, as she'd spar -lightly- with him, stopping at random points to correct what he had done wrong and comment on what he had done right. Afterward, she'd make him do a random strength-based exercise, where Naruto would do as 10 repitions for every mistake Anko counted.

"Five mistakes, fifty of them. MOVE IT!"

Naruto got to pushing dirt.

Anko smiled. The brat had taken to the training like an Akimichi took to a buffet. For a month, they had been training, and Naruto was coming along nicely. She hadn't really taught him much about being a ninja, but she was sure that he could likely hold his own against any regular civilian in a fight, and likely even fight off a genin. He definitely had stamina off the charts, as he was capable of actually wearing her out. She attributed his impressive energy and chakra to the Kyubi, but as far as she could tell, that and his healing abilities were the only influences the great beast had on her new pupil.

She had never really fancied herself a good teacher, but either she was, or Naruto was just the type to learn by having a lesson beat into him. It was likely the latter; and Naruto was just such a blank slate that teaching him was simple.

Naruto got up and dusted the dirt from the ground off, and then charged his new sensei.

* * *

><p>Itachi could only revel at his leader's plan. Using his Sharingan, he would cast a powerful genjutsu and disguise himself as Orochimaru should Sasuke return from his training too early, something Itachi hoped wouldn't happen. The prodigy wouldn't count on it though; his luck was as terrible as Tsunade's, which meant that Sasuke would likely master whatever he was working on tonight, early, and come rushing home to brag to either him or his father. This was the ultimate compromise, but it would allow him to still be around to raise Sasuke.<p>

Itachi's current problem was convincing his "mentor" that he could handle the massacre on his own.

If he could see through the mask, Itachi would have bet good money that Madara Uchiha had the most amused look on his face. However, all he could see was the single spinning Sharingan out the eyehole. He wasn't sure why, but Madara had changed his mask to a spiral shaped orange one.

"You think you can slay an entire clan on your own, little weasel?"

Yeah, Madara was all but laughing at him.

"Don't lie to me, boy. You don't want to leave Konoha, do you?" The elder Uchiha's voice changed from amused to serious in an instant, and Itachi flinched. Madara laughed humorlessly.

"I care not for what you do, boy. The Uchiha clan needs to pay for betraying me, so as long as I get in my fun, you can do whatever it is you want to do. I'm sure it mostly involves taking care of young Sasuke, right?"

Itachi nodded hesitantly.

"You really do care about that little boy more than anything else in the world, don't you..."

-line break-

"Well, brat, you've gotten the basics down well enough," Anko said, panting lightly. Her pupil on the other hand was dirty and lightly bruised looking, and gasping for breath.

"Heh... told ya, sis. I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage ever, so of course I've mastered your training."

Anko chuckled at Naruto's bravado, patting his head.

"You've still got a long way to go. That's all for tonight, though. And for a while now. I've got to get back out on the field. Besides, as far as taijutsu goes, you're hands down going to be the best at the academy for a while now."

Naruto frowned and began to pout, tugging at heartstrings Anko didn't know she had.

"Aww, come on kid, don't be like that. I have bills to pay and all. You can't learn half the things I know without signing at least three release forms and a Summoning Contract."

Naruto's lip quivered.

"Seriously, kid, I can't help it."

The Hero-in-training frowned deeply and sighed.

"Okay..."

A vein in Anko's head twitched.

"Fine, brat... I'll treat you to ramen for learning so well. "

* * *

><p>Night finally fell and Itachi sighed. It was time.<p>

Madara had already started his rampage on the farthest side of the compound. Itachi was supposed to meet him in the middle, where Fugaku and Mikoto lie sleeping. The Uchiha prodigy couldn't put it off anymore, and so he began.

He wasn't sure how it had taken him to get this far. Itachi had displaced his emotions and had been more or less acting on instinct, something that had probably saved his sanity. But he was doing it all for Sasuke, and nothing else came close to mattering. Not his friends, his cousins, his aunts, his uncles, his lover... for their decision to revive the ancient war between the Senju and Uchiha, for their choice to betray Konoha, they all deserved to die.

The thing that made this easy was that the Uchiha Clan were mostly all asleep, and the ninja of the clan had all let their guards down being in the Clan District. Very sloppy.

So, it was an honest surprise when Itachi made it to his own clan house to find his mother already dead and the spinning eyes of the Mangekyou Sharingan coming from his father.

"Itachi. I hereby revoke your status as a member of the Uchiha clan for the crime of betrayal. You will die here."

* * *

><p>Madara could only laugh as the clan head and his son began to battle. While Itachi would one day surpass his father, and soon, Fugaku was a powerful ninja in his own right. With the Mangekyou, Itachi would have had an advantage, but Fugaku had evened the odds as he shot off a Fire Dragon at his son.<p>

Itachi had told him of his plan to trick Sasuke into thinking that the Snake Sannin was the culprit behind the Massacre, but this could turn out to be more interesting. The Elder Uchiha smirked behind his mask. He could sense the boy entering the compound. Yes, things were going to be very interesting.

* * *

><p>Sasuke could only scream as he saw his mother's corpse sprawled onto the floor, but his cry was cut short as the wall burst open, his brother flying through. His brother didn't notice him at first, but as he did, Itachi's eyes widened in fear.<p>

"Sasuke, run! Get out of here!"

A fireball burst through the wall and Itachi's eyes morphed to his Mangekyo.

**"AMATERASU!"**

Black fire formed out of nowhere and met the regular flames of Fugaku's jutsu. Itachi grabbed Sasuke and burst out of the room.

"Sasuke, I've got no time to explain. Just get out of here."

Sasuke, currently in shock, couldn't move.

"Why... why are you fighting father, older brother? Why is mom dead? What happened to our clan?"

Itachi saw the perfect way out. The lie couldn't be disputed by anyone other than Fugaku, himself, and Madara, as there were no witnesses. Even the coucil had no way of knowing that he had done this deed. He hated to lie to his little brother, but there was no other way to get away with this and still raise Sasuke. He'd need someone.

"Father... father has gone crazy. He's killed the entire clan. I just got home to find him killing everyone. I'm trying to stop him... now Sasuke, run!"

Sasuke, instead of listening, glared. Father had done something like this? This was... this was insane! He had thought Itachi was falling into darkness, but it was really his father...

Fugaku appeared in the doorframe, holding a kunai, only to be charged by his youngest child, who had just awakened his own Sharingan.

Fugaku easily jumped over the low sweep kick and grabbed Sasuke by the throat, tossing him towards Itachi.

"You think you were the only one Madara contacted?"

As if on cue, Madara appeared out of nowhere.

"Little Fugaku, must you spoil my fun?"

Fugaku could only glare at his ancestor.

"It's time to leave. ANBU should be here any minute now."

The masked man nodded his head, and chuckled before he and the Clan Head disappeared in a spiral of energy.

Itachi could only cradle Sasuke's unconcious form, wondering what was going to happen next.

* * *

><p><strong>So here's a big divergence point. Instead of Itachi taking the fall and joining Akatsuki, Fugaku is now alive and well, and that will set off a whole different path for Konoha. Yeppers. I hope this is believable enough for you all. Second chapter in two days. Good stuff. Umm... Take care, and please, review. It helps my self esteem which makes me want to write more. <strong>

**Later!**


End file.
